British Employees Report Spending Growing Amounts of Time Switching Between Systems, Copying Information Into Prompts and Reconciling Conflicting Data
LONDON, May 14, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Workday, Inc. (NASDAQ: WDAY), the enterprise AI platform for managing people, money, and agents, today released new research that shows UK employees are losing nearly a full work day each week switching between disconnected AI tools and systems. The research found that one in four UK workers spend seven or more hours a week copying information between applications, reconciling conflicting data and manually feeding context into AI tools.
The report, "The Copy/Paste Economy: Why Task-Oriented AI Is Failing the Enterprise," shows that while many employees say AI helps them complete individual tasks faster, those gains are often offset by the time spent switching between systems, checking outputs and manually moving information across tools.
The data points to a UK workforce that is engaged but also overburdened by the very technology intended to help them. While workers remain optimistic about AI and its potential, with over half of UK employees reporting that AI is already reducing their task times, these individual efficiencies are not translating to total time saved.
This creates a "faster but not better" reality for the workforce. In the rush to adopt AI, businesses are prioritising new features without ensuring that the technology can work together. While an isolated application might speed up one specific task, managing the disconnect slows down the rest of the day for workers.
"Too many employees are serving as the human middleware between disconnected AI systems," said Daniel Pell, vice president and country manager, UKI, Workday. "The companies seeing the most value from AI are building it directly into the systems where their people, data and work come together."
The Cost of Disconnected AI: The research highlights that the emotional and operational cost of fragmented AI is hitting the UK significantly harder than global peers:
- Unnecessary friction: 78% of UK workers are hindered by administrative tasks that create significant daily friction, such as chasing down data just to feed it into an AI prompt.
- Lost productivity: Employees are working harder to manage new tools, but the output doesn't reflect this. As a result, more than 60% of UK workers find themselves stuck in "busy but unproductive" days often or very often (compared to 43% globally).
- Burnout: This systemic drag is causing real burnout. Over three-quarters (77%) of UK workers report stress in their role from navigating disconnected AI tools and systems.
Moving Away From the Copy/Paste Economy
The data is clear: the UK workforce is ready for AI that removes friction, not tools that create more of it. The research shows that integrated AI platforms perform significantly better than disconnected, standalone applications. Companies are seeing the most success when they make integration the priority, building AI directly into the core systems where work happens.
By making this shift, organisations can move the burden of low-value copy-and-paste work from the employee to AI itself. When employees are empowered with technology that delivers, those lost hours can be reinvested directly into the measurable outcomes businesses need.
For additional information
- Download the full report: "The Copy/Paste Economy: Why Task-Oriented AI Is Failing the Enterprise"
- Read the latest blog from Daniel Pell: "Why UK Productivity is Stuck in 'Performance Art'"
About the Report
The research was conducted online globally by The Harris Poll on behalf of Workday among 2,400 UK professionals in Finance, HR, IT, and Operations-the departments that form the operational core of large enterprises. Respondents are employed full-time at organisations of 500+ employees with revenue of $100M+, and all actively use AI in their organisation and their own role. The sample is weighted toward director level and above, reflecting the study's focus on professionals closest to enterprise AI strategy and adoption. Among directors, VPs, and C-Suite executives, they must take an active role in their organisation's AI strategy. The survey was conducted March 2-24, 2026.
About Workday
Workday is the enterprise AI platform for managing people, money, and agents. Workday unifies HR and Finance on one intelligent platform with AI at the core to empower people at every level with the clarity, confidence, and insights they need to adapt quickly, make better decisions, and deliver outcomes that matter. Workday is used by more than 11,500 organisations around the world and across industries - from medium-sized businesses to more than 65% of the Fortune 500. For more information about Workday, visit visit workday.com.
© 2026 Workday, Inc. All rights reserved. Workday and the Workday logo are registered trademarks of Workday, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements including, among other things, statements regarding Workday's plans, beliefs, and expectations. These forward-looking statements are based only on currently available information and our current beliefs, expectations, and assumptions. Because forward-looking statements relate to the future, they are subject to inherent risks, uncertainties, assumptions, and changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict and many of which are outside of our control. If the risks materialize, assumptions prove incorrect, or we experience unexpected changes in circumstances, actual results could differ materially from the results implied by these forward-looking statements, and therefore you should not rely on any forward-looking statements. Risks include, but are not limited to, risks described in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), including our most recent report on Form 10-Q or Form 10-K and other reports that we have filed and will file with the SEC from time to time, which could cause actual results to vary from expectations. Workday assumes no obligation to, and does not currently intend to, update any such forward-looking statements after the date of this release, except as required by law.
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